Ex-staffer holds ground as ‘Memogate’ unfolds

Manuel Miranda, a central figure in what has come to be known among Capitol Hill insiders as “Memogate” or “Mannygate,” is not the sort of guy with whom you want to get into a dispute.

One month after being forced to resign over his role in viewing internal Democratic memos written by Senate Judiciary Committee staffers, Mr. Miranda is leading a spirited battle against Democrats he views as duplicitous and Republicans he sees as wimpy and unprincipled.

Operating out of his Capitol Hill home, Mr. Miranda dispatches press releases and sends e-mails of newspaper stories, editorials and occasional musings about the Democratic memos he helped discover.

The Democratic documents show the close relationship between the party’s Judiciary Committee members and liberal activist groups.

Even as Senate leaders viewed the report yesterday on the Senate memo probe and prepared for closed meetings today, Mr. Miranda was raising the volume and seriousness of accusations against Democrats.

Among the thousands of Democratic memos downloaded but not made public, he says, is evidence that senators on the committee slowed the nomination of Judge Dennis W. Shedd to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for political purposes. According to Mr. Miranda, Democrats wanted Judge Shedd as a boogeyman for fund-raising purposes in the 2002 elections and were afraid that confirming him would hurt them with black voters.

“It was cash for judges,” Mr. Miranda said. “The memos show the price they put on their vote.”

The content of other memos is so incendiary, he said, “I may go to my grave with it because it would so damage the trust of the American people in their judicial system. I wouldn’t reveal it, no matter what the partisan advantage.”

Since resigning his post as legal counsel to Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican, Mr. Miranda has developed into something of a martyr among conservatives.

“Manny is a real fighter,” said Kay Daly, president of Coalition for a Fair Judiciary, a grouping of conservative activist organizations involved in judicial nominations. “He’s got that 40-yard stare.”

Meanwhile, he has become equally reviled among some Democrats.

“Manny is a lightning rod,” said Joe Shoemaker, spokesman for Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat and member of the Judiciary Committee. “He has made himself a lightning rod.”

While that has helped Mr. Miranda in battles over President Bush’s judicial nominees, Mr. Shoemaker said, he has since “crossed from being a partisan fighter to having this scorched-earth approach.”

Story Continues →